POST GAME

I’ve never seen a coach more animated than Mike Singletary in his post-game address to the media. We got the eyes-popping, fired-up, pre-Super Bowl game Singletary. He first started out apologizing for the team’s performance and then he went on a tirade that he interrupted in mid-sentence.

What was most surprising, when asked to explain what happened on the sidelines with tight end Vernon Davis, he told the truth and recounted the conversation. Davis caught a 7-yard pass and then was nailed for a personal foul when he play-slapped safety Brian Russell. At that point, Davis was pulled and when he came to the sidelines and felt Singletary’s glare, he looked at Singletary and said “What?!” After a conversation on the bench, Singletary told Davis that he would benefit the team more if he went in to take a shower and then joined the team on the sideline and that’s when Davis got up and left. Singletary wasn’t sure if he’d impose any disciplinary action on Davis.

“I told everyone at the beginning of the week, I will not tolerate players that think it’s about them when it’s about the team,” Singletary said still in high-decibel mode. “We cannot make decisions that cost the team and then come off (to) the sideline and it’s nonchalant. I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized … rather than play with 11 when I know that person is not sold out to be a part of the team. It’s more about them than it is about the team. Can not play (with those players). Can not win with them; can not coach with them. Can’t do it. I want winners.”

Singletary then said that Davis tried to talk to him in the locker room, and Singletary told him, “You don’t want to talk to me right now.”

For his part, Davis said he didn’t think he did anything wrong.

“If the coach thinks I did something wrong, then I have to listen to him,” Davis said, “He’s the boss.”

Singletary wants Davis to be more careful about what he does, to play smarter, which many in and out of the team have advocated. Maybe with Singletary, Davis will be forced to take all aspects of his game more seriously.

Singletary also had words for Takeo Spikes after fullback Leonard Weaver caught a 62-yard touchdown pass, after scoring on a 43-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game. It looked like Spikes thought it was a zone coverage when it was man, which left Weaver wide open on the second touchdown play. Spikes also walked away from Singletary when he came to the sidelines but that didn’t seem to irk Singletary as much as the Davis stunt.

Singletary also apologized to the team, which many players objected to, including Manny Lawson.

“We are the ones out on the field,” he said, but Lawson would probably follow Singletary through the Sahara in August after Singletary played the outside linebacker for the entire game in a 3-4 defense. Lawson responded with nine tackles, a sack, two tackles for losses, and a hit on the quarterback.

This drama and animation by Singletary could go either way. Either he self-implodes or he gets the team to buy in. It reminds me of when Magic Johnson took over for the Lakers for a half a season and threw a player’s cell phone against the wall. Johnson couldn’t deal with the modern player and maybe Singletary can’t either.

QUARTERBACK QUANDARY: The team now has 15 days to prepare for the Cardinals on a Monday night. Singletary said he would think about who he’s going to start at quarterback for that game which will set up an interesting conversation between Singletary and offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Martz wants to run his high-risk, high-reward offense, something he probably can’t do with Shaun Hill. Singletary, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to want a high-wire act passing game.

“I talked to the quarterbacks early in the week,” Singletary said. “I said, ‘All I’m asking you to do is manage the game. You don’t have to win the game.'” That’s never been Martz’s philosophy.